French industrialist Serge Dassault dies at 93
PARIS (Reuters) - French billionaire industrialist Serge Dassault, whose group builds the Rafale war planes and owns Le Figaro newspaper, died in Paris on Monday aged 93, a spokesman for Dassault Group said. Dassault, a former conservative senator and mayor, was the fifth richest person in France according to Challenges magazine. The Dassault group which his father had created controls Dassault Aviation and Le Figaro, and holds major stakes in Dassault Systemes and Thales
PARIS (Reuters) - French billionaire industrialist Serge Dassault, whose group builds the Rafale war planes and owns Le Figaro newspaper, died in Paris on Monday aged 93, a spokesman for Dassault Group said.
Dassault, a former conservative senator and mayor, was the fifth richest person in France according to Challenges magazine.
The Dassault group which his father had created controls Dassault Aviation and Le Figaro, and holds major stakes in Dassault Systemes and Thales.
Dassault had passed on leadership of Dassault Aviation in 2000 but he was still chairing Dassault Group.
The family-owned Dassault Group had in 2014 appointed Charles Edelstenne as eventual successor to Serge Dassault, saying at the time that the succession would be automatic. Edelstenne is currently CEO of the group.
Dassault, a father of four, died in his Paris office around 4 pm (1400 GMT), the spokesman said.
Dassault had a number of run-ins with the law. Last year he was fined two million euros ($2.32 million) after a court found him guilty of money laundering and failing to disclose fully his wealth to authorities.
Dassault's legal team said, in his defence, he had inherited many of the financial tax structures at the centre of the case from his father, and had since rectified his situation with French tax authorities.
($1 = 0.8604 euros)
(Reporting by Jean-Michel Belot; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Matthias Blamont/David Evans)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
also read
France, Germany to agree to NATO role against Islamic State - sources | Reuters
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States
China's Xi says navy should become world class | Reuters
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.